The Kick
by AngeloftheMorning1978
Summary: Their marriage is solid. Arthur is a devoted husband and father. Ariadne is a perfect mother and loving wife. Their marriage and family are put to the test as they move to New York and are rudely awaken to personal, financial and family tragedies.
1. Chapter 1

** Their marriage is solid. Arthur is a devoted husband and father. His wife, Ariadne is a perfect mother and loving wife. Their marriage and family are put to the test as they move to New York and are rudely awaken to personal, financial and family tragedies.**

** Takes place after "Ariadne's Secrets", Ariadne's Birthday, Arthur's Ghosts, Ariadne's True Love, Hostage, and Arthur's Secrets.**

**The Kick**

1.

~ Ariadne was grateful the bathroom was so close by. Even though Sadie had tried to warn her about New York, the Architect had found the city very nice so far.

The bathrooms in this building were very fine and clean as she felt her bladder had shrunk from her heavy pregnancy.

She had finally talked Arthur into completing their move to New York last week. His need to try and save his father's floundering company weighed heavily on his mind as she felt like she was a bad wife for keeping him in Paris. Her doctor had said no to the move since she had endured a stressful first trimester. Ariadne having to convince her husband she was well enough for travel.

It had been an easy move. They family only packing their clothes and most cherished things. Arthur still owned his childhood home that overlooked the park and was fully furnished. All Arthur and his family had to do was move in, and unpack. The whole process taking less then a day.

Ariadne was enjoying the wonderful feeling of an empty bladder when she heard two women barge into the ladies room.

"You were right. He _is_ cute." One woman said.

"Arthur? The new owner?" The other woman said. "I've seen him here a few times. God, I wish more men would dress like that."

The Architect peeked out of the crack in her stall to see two, overly primped, young women fixing their hair and makeup in the big mirror.

"He was living in France?" The first woman said.  
"Yeah, for years. He's apparently very well traveled." Her companion said. The second woman looking pleased with herself. Proud of her appearance.

"Is he married?" the first woman asked carefully as she appraised her own face and hair in the mirror.

"I thought I read he was, but he never brings her to New York. Maybe things aren't so good at home." The other woman said.

Ariadne quickly readjusted her top over her protruding belly. She was still two months away from her due date, but her body felt tired already. She let out a long sigh as he unlocked her stall and waddled out to wash her hands.

The two women barely gave her a glance as she washed her hands.

"Are you talking about the new owner? What's his name?" She asked the two women in her best 'Girl Talk' voice.

The two young women looked the Architect over. Her small frame and large, pregnant belly.

The bolder woman smiled at her.  
"His name is Arthur. Have you seen him?" She asked.

"I think so. He always looks so angry." Ariadne commented. Her husband wore a scowl on his face at the office as he spoke with his business managers and sat in meetings all day. He only smiled when she stopped by to take him out to lunch. It had been her first time visiting his father's company.

"He does look mad all the time." the first, more timid girl agreed. The haughty girl shrugged.

"That's okay by me. I like a man who's a little angry. The sex is better." She said boldly.  
"I thought he was married!" Ariadne said with a laugh.  
"Were not sure if he is or not. But he comes here alone and leaves alone. I asked him to dinner once and he said no." The haughty girl informed the Architect.

Ariadne froze as she washed her hands. The haughty girl was everything she wasn't. She was tall, blond and had an impressive figure. By contrast, the Architect looked too small with eyes that were too big.

This girl had actually asked her husband out on a date? Ariadne wanted to smile at the idea of Arthur turning her down. Of the fact that he would call her as soon as he left the office and they would talk until he fell asleep. She in Paris and he in New York. The only way they could keep in touch till he was back in Paris. Their phone conversations lasting hours as she knew he wanted so much to come home. Not able to stand sleeping in a bed without her.

He had turned down this girl, and maybe an affair that she might never find out about, all to talk to his wife and his kids on the phone.

"If he was happy at home, why leave his wife there?" The haughty girl said unbuttoning her blouse and showing ample cleavage.

"Maybe he's gay." Ariadne offered.

"That would explain him dressing so well." The haughty girl agreed.

The more timid girl jumped as she read a text that dinged on her phone.

"He's on his way through accounting!" She exclaimed.

All three women jumped as Ariadne followed the two out of the bathroom.

"Is that him?" She whispered to the haughty girl looking at a not unattractive man in a mustered colored shirt.

"Oh, God. No way!" The haughty girl laughed. "That's Mr. Lowe. His the general manger. _That_ is Arthur."

Ariadne couldn't help but feel full of pride. Her husband, the Point Man, was striding quickly through the office on his long legs. Mr. Lowe barely able to keep up as they were talking in crisp, efficient voices. Every pair of female eyes in the large office was looking at the new, handsome CEO.

All of them, no doubt, wondering who he was. Was he with anyone? Most importantly, just how rich was he?

"He's not _that _good looking." Ariadne said taking in how almost heroically handsome Arthur looked.

"Your crazy." The more timid girl said to her as the three of them watched Arthur and Mr. Lowe stride across the office.

Ariadne smiled to herself as Arthur spotted her. His eyes almost missing her. She reveled in how his face lit up at seeing her. She knew he was glad she had come to see him at the office. She knew that despite the make up she had sweated off and her large belly, he thought she was beautiful.

"He's coming this way." The more timid girl hissed. "Stacy, he sees you."

Stacy stood a little straighter.

"He's coming over to talk to you." the timid girl said bouncing on her feet.

"Maybe he's going to take you up on going out." Ariadne added.

The Architect felt her eyes locked with the Point Man as he approached the three women.

"Nice to see you again." Arthur said.

"Nice to see you again to." Stacy said with a wide smile as she threw her long, blond hair back and revealed her exposed cleavage.

Arthur's eyes flickered to the haughty woman. An annoyed look on his face that was usually meant only for Eames.

"Nice to be seen." Ariadne said with a laugh she couldn't hold at bay anymore.

Arthur's eyes were back on his wife as the petite Architect stepped into the Point Man's arms. Arthur kissed her brow and gave her a hug as the two women from the bathroom gawked openly at them.

"Did you have a nice tour? Sorry it took so long. Those meeting never end when they say they will." He said to her.

"Well, next time tell them your wife is waiting and _your_ the CEO of this company and meetings will end when _you_ say." Ariadne said looking up at him smugly. Aware all the women were looking at her.

"I'll do that." Arthur laughed as his hand went to her belly.

"The people here are very nice." She told him. She ran her left hand through her hair a little. Making sure her sapphire engagement ring sparkled brazenly in the light.

"That's good. Are you ready to go to lunch?" He asked kissing her on the brow again.

She nodded happily as she felt so beautiful just now. She had never felt more stunning, desired or envied then right at that moment. They way her husband looked at her, made her want to cry out from happiness. The way the other women in the office were staring at her. Their eyes burning with jealousy as they watched the happy couple with a baby on the way.

"It was nice to meet you." Ariadne said to the haughty woman and her timid friend. Both of them staring at her in disbelief as Arthur took her hand and they walked out of the building.


	2. Chapter 2

2.

~ "Is this _New York_ Chinese food?" Darcy asked her parents as the family was settling into their dinner of take out. Since they recent move, Ariadne had taken a well deserved break from cooking. There were just to many choices in foods in this city. Too many cultural mash ups to cook from home.

They had feasted on Italian, Mexican, Spanish, Russian and American foods since they arrived. Darcy always asking if what they were eating was _New York_ egg rolls, and wanting to know how much egg was in them.

Her parents could only hide little smiles at her innocence and excitement of living in the city. How shocked she had been on her first day of school to discover that none of the other children in her class spoke French.

"They call me; 'That French girl'!" Darcy had cried into Ariadne's arms that day.

The little girl soon found out there were benefits to being so different. Her classmates were very interested in her and her life in Paris, and the second day, she had come running to her Mama telling her about all her new friends.

Dominic was now feeding himself and never wanted what was on his own plate. His big brown eyes searching with interest at what his mother or father was eating.

"It's nice to not have to worry about what to cook anymore." Ariadne told her husband.  
"As long as it's _New York_ approved." Arthur agreed.

They watched as Darcy tried to eat with chopsticks. The simple joy of a child who entertained them so much.

"My mother and I used to eat Chinese food just like this when I was little." Arthur said softly.

Ariadne turned to her husband. He never spoke about his mother. His wife rarely even seeing pictures of the beautiful ballet dancer who died form a Brain tumor when he was not much older then Darcy.

This fine apartment in Manhattan had been his childhood home and, in may ways, it was odd the be back here as an adult.

His father never changed the furniture or other things from his boyhood. Everything was exactly the same and he hated it.  
"I still think we need a decorator." Ariadne told him as she looked over the fine antique furnishings.

"This place reminds me too much of when I was little." He told her curtly. The discussion coming to an end.

"This house is too dark." Darcy agreed. Suddenly inviting herself into the conversation.

"Your right, Darcy." Arthur said proudly. "This house _is_ too dark."

~ In the large guest room of his late father's home, Ariadne relaxed into bed. Her feet were hurting as her husband rubbed away the stiffness.  
"You should have heard how those women were talking about you." Ariadne teased him. Telling him all about Stacy's attempts to seduce him.

"That blond woman? Looks like she needs to work at strip club?" Arthur asked.

"That's the one." Ariadne said with a smile.

"She creeps me out. I feel nervous around her." He admitted as he massaged the arc of her swollen foot.

"Your not going to fire her because she was flirting with you, are you?" He wife asked.

"No, I'm going to fire her because she's incompetent, lazy and passes off her work on someone else." Arthur said.

He sighed as he kissed her now relaxed foot.  
"First priority is to trim the fat. Get rid of everything and everyone that is weighing the company down. I've already got a list of more then 100 people." He said sadly.

"Layoffs?" Ariadne asked. "I thought that's what we were here to prevent."

"Layoff's were inevitable." Arthur told her with a sigh as he climbed into bed with her. "The company has been running at a loss for years now. Lowe seems to think a more streamline approach will work. There are too many people on payroll and with benefits, retirement." Arthur sighed and rubbed his eyes. "We might not be able to contribute to the pensions anymore." He said sadly.

"It's only temporary." Ariadne said. "A scale back is good. As far as their retirement, it's not a permanat thing. It's so they can keep their jobs."

"Lowe thinks that we might not be able to find share holders to invest now that people know how seriously in the red were are." Arthur said as she curled next to him.

"In the red _for now_. There is a whole new management team in place and a total restructuring. And you are not your father." Ariadne told him.

Arthur smiled. He rolled over so that they could look at one another face to face in their small guest bed.  
"I knew their was a reason I married you." He whispered as his fingers traced through her hair.

She smiled back at him. The joy she felt when this handsome CEO talked to _her_ and not to the haughty girl coming back in her mind.

"You have no idea how glad I am your here with me now." He whispered as his hands wandered up her night shirt. His fingers tracing over the tight skin of her belly. His second son kicking at him. This new baby was much calmer then his brother. He didn't love to kick her all day.

"You missed me?" She said teasingly as she felt his hands roam over her breasts. His lips finding hers in the dim light of their bedroom.

"I would leave the office and couldn't wait to call you. Couldn't wait to hear your voice." He whispered huskily as he pulled her night shirt off her body with ease. His hands and lips finding her sensitive breasts. Reveling in the fullness of them from the pregnancy.

Her body snapped into life from his attentions. He barely had to do anything for her to become aroused lately. Her husbands presence and smells exciting her. She flushed hard as he whispered how much better making love was in person then over the phone. The distance they had to endure leading to them spending hours in their mutually empty beds as only their voices were able to touch one another.

"I told you once..." he panted as she moaned under him. "I never want to sleep alone again."

~ "Is this New York Thai food?" Darcy asked as Ariadne couldn't wait any longer for Arthur to come to dinner. For the past month, he had been in his little home office after he came home from his tour of facilities, board meetings and all things that drained him.

"Yes, Honey." Ariadne said looking over at the Point Man. He was still on the phone. Still wearing that scowl on his face.

"Edwina, come and eat." Ariadne said to the petite woman who had served as Arthur's secretary and her friend since his father passed away over 2 years ago now.

Edwina looked exhausted too. Everyone in Arthur's inner circle at the company looked worn and weary from the nonstop work.

"Thank you." Edwina said fixing a small plate of food and sitting down.

Ariadne went into the little home office. Her husband was on the phone and looking angry.  
"How long was she still in the building after HR spoke with her?" He asked. His face pulling into a deeper scowl.

"Arthur?" She said trying to get his attention.  
He put a hand up.

"No, just give her ID photo to security. If she comes back, call the police and have her arrested for trespassing. I don't care what she threatens." Arthur said. He looked up at Ariadne.

"Look, my wife is calling me to dinner." He said to the phone and finally hung up.

"What happened?" She asked as she stepped close to him. Sitting in his desk chair, he pulled her close. His head resting on her belly as his arms encircled her body.  
"The layoffs didn't go very well." He said sadly. "I knew they wouldn't, but several people were upset enough to make threats."

"I see." Ariadne said running a hand over his hair. Her husband had seemed to age rapidly over the past month. The stress of what he had inherited weighed heavily on him.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

He stood up and sighed.

"I knew with wouldn't be pretty." He said with a shrug. "Just don't think it would be _that_ bad."

"Come to dinner." Ariadne said gently. "Were having _New York_ Thai food."

~ "The teacher made me stand up in class and speak in French and tell them what it was like living in Paris." Darcy told them when the Point Man took a seat at the family table.

"What did you tell them?" Arthur asked. Amused, as always, by Darcy's world. Her problems so much more simple then his.

"I told them that when I came to live in France, I lived in America first. I told them that my French teachers never made me tell them about life in America." Darcy said.

Ariadne smiled.  
"Their just fascinated by you." Edwina said comfortingly. "If I went to school with you, I would be fascinated." She told the little girl.

"Well Chris Wilson isn't _fascinated_ by me." Darcy complained as Dominic didn't care for his dinner and his mother gave him oatmeal and bananas.

"Who is Chris Wilson?" Arthur asked.

"He's the boy all the girls like. I want him to be my boyfriend. But he said he doesn't like foreigners." Darcy told them.

Arthur sat up in shock as Edwina and Ariadne burst out laughing.  
"You don't need any boyfriends, Darcy." Arthur said. "Especially none like Chris Wilson." He added.

"Arthur." Ariadne giggled helplessly.

A knock on the door brok the happy moment.

"Who is that?" Arthur asked putting his fork down and striding over to the door. Ariadne put her plate in the sink and followed him.

She stopped when she saw the two police men. They were speaking softly with Arthur.

"Arthur?" Ariadne asked. Her husband turned a worried look to her.  
"It's alright." He said in a broken, scared voice. "Ariadne, take the kids into the other room."

She didn't question it. She had been his wife long enough to know when he was serious. She had never seen him so serious.

"Edwina, take the kids to their rooms, please?" Ariadne asked as she shut the dinning room door and went back to Arthur.

"Sir, we have to take you in." One of the police men was saying.  
"It's is a huge mistake. I have been with my family every night for the past _month_. You can check with the door man or look at the security cameras in the lobby." Arthur told them.

"Were just here to take you in for questioning." The officer said.

"Arthur, what happening?" Ariadne said.

The Point Man let out a long sigh. He looked so exhausted. So beaten down.  
"Stacy Richards, the one you met at the office?" he told her. "She's accusing me of raping her."


	3. Chapter 3

3.

~ "I didn't do it." Arthur said as Ariadne drove him back home from the Police station. She had followed him to the police station where she waited while they interrogated the Point Man for five hours.

Her husband was too tired now to drive home. Too upset over what had happened.  
"I know you didn't." Ariadne whispered trying to hold back tears.

"I never even _touched_ that woman." Arthur reiterated.

"I know." She said automatically.

"Do you? Do you really know that I haven't been with another woman since we met?" He asked her.  
"Of course I know that, Arthur." Ariadne said feeling tears fall out of her eyes.

"I was on the phone with you for hours every night when I cam home from the office." he went on. Not even listening to her. "I came home to you _every night_ since the move. There are security cameras in our building that can prove that."

She said nothing a the car was slowed by traffic.  
"I never _touched_ that woman. Not ever." Arthur went on.  
"I know!" Ariadne screamed in deep frustration. Her foot slipping off the break and their car hitting the SUV in front of them.

~ It had been a hellish night. The police were called because of the car accident. Ariadne refused to go to the Emergency room, despite her husband's worry over her being almost 8 months gone. She was fined because she didn't have an American driver's license and that wasn't counting the irate driver that jumped out of the SUV, cursing and screaming at her. Making the Point Man leave the safety of the car and stop the other driver from yelling at his wife.

People on the street having to prevent a near fist fight.

~ When they finally made it home, Edwina had the children in bed. A worried experssion on her small face.

"Surely they can see it's just retaliation." she said in the voice that always sounded like she was fighting a cold. "Stacy was one of those who treated you. Threatened the company when she was let go." Edwina's tiny little body trembling as Ariadne waddled zombie like to the guest bedroom.

"Ariadne?" He husband called after her as he was still on the phone with Mcline.

She ignored him.

~ She was so tired all she could do was sleep. Waking to feel her husband climb into bed with her. His arms going around her body.

"I'm sorry." His whispered. "I'm so sorry about all of this."

"You didn't do anything." She whispered. "I know you would never do that. That woman practically said as much in the bathroom. She just wasn't to punish you for firing her."

"Mcline says they don't have a case. I surrendered my DNA and signed over permission to check my phone records and building security cameras. They'll prove I was on the phone with you or at home. That I was never anywhere near that woman." He whispered.  
"That's good." Ariadne said feeling like she might cry again.

"I promise, Ariadne." he whispered. "I promise you, that it's not true."

She said nothing as sleep took her away from this horrible night.

~ Mcline was at their home, bright and early, the next morning.  
"I haven't been in this old penthouse since your mother died." The portly man said as Ariadne poured him some coffee.

"What's the news?" Arthur asked. Dark circles under his eyes.  
"Well, this young lady, Stacy. She shows up at a police station yesterday saying she was sexually assaulted, by you, a month ago during your last visit." Mcline said casually.

"It's not true." Arthur said giving his wife a worried look.

"I know that, Son." Mcline said kindly. "The fact she waited so long to report it works against her. Also, there is no evidence to support the claim. Coupled with the fact she was just terminated from your company. There just isn't a case."

"She's still dragging my name through the mud." Arthur said showing him an article in the paper. A small story about him being questioned in relation to a sexual assault allegation.

"Yes, and when we prove your innocent, that will be a matter for the civil courts." Mcline said. His voice calm and reassuring.

"What about my family?" Arthur said bitterly. "My wife is 8 months pregnant and she isn't supposed to be under any stress."

"Again, one step at a time Arthur." Mcline said.

The old lawyer looked at the Point Man. He had been a family friend since Arthur was a little boy.

"When was the last time you slept, Son?" He asked.

"I'm not sure." Arthur grumbled.

"Well try it. Take that pretty wife of yours out for a nice date before the baby comes. Let me worry about all this mess." He said finishing his breakfast.

The Portly man stood up and kissed Ariadne's cheek before leaving them.

"You hear that?" Ariadne said coming to sit by her husband. "It's going to be alright. Any you have to take me out."

She tried to give him a smile, but she felt too weak to do it.

"I'm so sorry about all of this." Arthur said sadly.  
"I know. I know you didn't do it." She told him taking his large hand. "Let's do what Mcline says and not worry about." She said trying to sound brave.

~ "Everything looks really good." The lady doctor said a week later. "We may not need to educe. He's not as big as his brother was."

"Nothing bad for the car accident?" Ariadne asked as she sat up on the exam table.

"Nothing so far as we can see." The doctor said. "Just take it easy and we will be ready when the time comes."

~ The decorator redid the penthouse in less then a week. Clearing away all the dark, cumbersome furnishings of the former occupant and making it much more cheerful for the young family.

Arthur was finally comfortable in staying in the master suit now that his father's furniture was gone and the room painted.

"I know you think I'm crazy, but I could never sleep in the bed where my father might have slept with my ex-girlfriend." Arthur said as Ariadne rubbed her back. Her eyes darting to the clock as a pain ripped through her.

"Hum." she said absentmindedly.

"I mean, just the thought that Darcy might have been conceived on that bed." Arthur said as he looked over the more modern bed and coverings.

"Arthur?" She said softly.

"I know, it's silly. But too much of this place was like it was when I was little. It made me uncomfortable."

"Arthur?"

The Point Man turned to his wife. She was rubbing her back again and looking worriedly at the clock.

"I think it's time to go to the hospital." She told him.

~ "Were about a week early." The lady doctor said as the Architect was rolled into the delivery room.

Ariadne's labor was much easier then it was when Dominic was born. Perhaps it was because she knew what to expect. The delivery was normal and Arthur was by her side.

Their son was born screaming, crying, wet and naked into the world.

Ariadne couldn't help but laugh at the sight of him. He was almost purple and smaller then Dominic had been.

His parents decided to name him Daniel.

"Doctor?" A nurse called worriedly as Ariadne was being examined immediately after the birth.

The doctor left Ariadne and went to the nurse who was cleaning the baby and performing basic tests on him.

"What is it?" Ariadne asked.

A hush had come over the delivery room as the Doctor examined Danial. Shining a light over the baby's face.

"What is it? Is he okay?" Ariadne almost cried as worry over Daniel gripped her belly.  
"What's happening?" Arthur demanded from the doctor.

"We need to take him. Do more tests." The doctor told the parents in a somber voice.

"What is it, what's wrong?" Ariadne asked.

All she wanted, was her baby with her. Why weren't they giving her the baby?

"It's too soon to tell." The doctor said in the noncommittal ways of doctors.  
"What is it?" The Point Man growled.

"The baby isn't responding to the pupil tests. His eyes are clouded and lack the blinking reflex to movement." She said as Ariadne started to hear a strong ringing in her ears. Protecting her from hearing too much.

"I'm sorry, but your baby is blind." The doctor said.


	4. Chapter 4

4.

~ No tests. At least not right away. Ariadne demanded her son be given to her. His small body fitting neatly into the crook of her arm. Daniel's little face was different from Dominic's. Their youngest son's features were softer and more delicate then his older brother's. He was also smaller. His body seeming to be a perfect size for his mother to hold the new born.

Arthur had left to talk to the doctors. Unsure of what he could do to help his son. Ariadne had her mother's instinct to tell her how to care for the baby. Arthur had nothing but raw love for his son telling him what to do.

"He's sleeping." She whispered as she heard Arthur come back into the room.

She was in the best hospital in the city. She had her own privet room and the best doctors available had been on sight to deliver. Arthur had taken care of every detail. She had taken care of herself all through her pregnancy and, aside for a short time in the hospital a few months ago, the everything had been fine. Why had this happened?

"They need to do tests on him." Arthur said keeping a distance away from her and Daniel.

"Do you want to hold him?" She asked looking over the sweet, sleeping face. Daniel's little hands peaking out of his blanket and he curled and flexed his fingers in his sleep.

Arthur stood rooted to the floor. His face serious and worried.

His wife turned to him.

"Why don't you want to hold your son, Arthur?" She asked him coldly. A sudden flash of anger lighting inside her as her husband kept himself apart from her and their less then perfect baby.

"They need to take him and run some tests. They need to make sure." He said in a robotic like voice. A part of him still holding out hope that there was something that could be done. Some simple procedure that could give Daniel his sight.

"He doesn't need to be tested. They didn't make a mistake." Ariadne said gravely. She turned back to her baby. Her son sleeping contentedly in her protective arms.

Carefully she raised his eyelid. His eyes were not the dark blue of many new born babies, or the deep brown of her's and Dominic's. Daniel's were a disturbing gray. A cloud that was over his eyes meaning he would never see sunlight, green grass or his mother's face. He was blind and there was nothing his mother could do for him.

~ "Oh, I like him." Sadie said happily as she held Daniel. The leggy spider woman looking over Daniel like she had found a coveted pair of shoes. "He is much more the gentleman then your other baby."

After the birth, and news of Daniel's blindness, their friends had all taken the red eye from Paris to New York. The penthouse suddenly filled with friends who wanted nothing more then to comfort Arthur and Ariadne.

"He didn't pee on you like Dominic did." Edwina added helpfully.  
"I still say he did it on purpose." Sadie said as she looked over Daniel. The leggy spider woman smiled softly. "No, this one is sweeter I think. He shall be my favorite."

~ Nothing they can do?" Cobb asked Arthur as the men were in Arthur's study. The only thing the decorator hadn't touched. It remained as it had when Arthur's father ruled. It was here the Point Man had flown into a rage after finding out about him Becky.

"He's too young to look into transplant surgeries. I put him on the waiting list." Arthur said. Since Daniel had come home, Arthur didn't know what to do for him or Ariadne. He felt like he had been walking on egg shells the whole time. Afraid of saying the wrong thing. Doing the wrong thing. His wife becoming so upset lately at the smallest things. He couldn't seem to comfort her as his own heartbreak over their son kept them cold to one another.

"Eye transplant? That actually works?" Eames asked.  
"Yes." Arthur said in a robot like tone. "I've been researching it since we found out. It's a complicated surgery. Only a few successful procedures have been done. There is every chance that he could reject the eyes. For now, he's too young."

"When will he be a candidate?" Cobb asked.  
"They will make us wait till he is 5 or 6." Arthur told them.

"What do you think caused the blindness?" Eames asked. The Forger didn't know how to talk to his friend about it. What was the right thing to say? His friends had always had perfect, healthy babies. What were the right words for something like this?

"We don't know." Arthur said. "It just... it just happened."

"How is Ariadne doing?" Cobb asked.

"She thinks I don't love him because he's blind." Arthur told them sadly.

"That's insane." Cobb said with a laugh.

Arthur's face was cold and immovable.

~ Daniel was a well behaved baby. He responded easily to his mother's touch. His face turning to her as he nursed or if she just held him. She talked to him constantly. Getting him used to her voice and he was soothed by her even if his world was dark.

Dominic didn't care for the attention that his mother lavished on, what he hoped, was just a temporary house guest. The little boy would trot around the family home in a temper till Mrs. Mills , finally able to make it to New York, rained him in.

"Such a well tempered thing." The nanny to Ariadne as she helped with Daniel.

The Architect was glad to have the older woman with her. An 8 year old, a toddler and a newborn were getting the best of her.

She had become very protective of Daniel. She was his mother and felt she had to defend him against everything. Her friend's gentle questions about his condition upset her, despite their good intentions.

~ Arthur kept a distance from the new baby. He was still nervous around Daniel. Still unsure how to handle the child who would need so much. Needs the Point Man wasn't sure he could meet. Ariadne quietly resented him for it and neither one spoke about the elephant in the room.

As always, it was Darcy who broke the tension. Before going back to Paris, Sarah had helped Ariadne explain Daniel's condition to his big sister. Telling her that he was fine, but he would never see. That it wasn't anyone fault and Daniel was just like a normal baby otherwise.

~ Ariadne had heard a crash coming from Darcy's room a few days after their friends left the States. She checked on Daniel and Dominic. Both boys were sleeping peacefully in their shared room. She heard another noise form Darcy's room and went to see what she was doing.

Darcy was standing in the middle of her bedroom. Her eyes covered with a pink scarf. She was trying to feel her way around. Purposefully hindering her sight to see if she could maneuver around her world in darkness.

An irrational anger filled Ariadne at the sight of this. The image of her beautiful son, helpless and zombie like. His hands grasping for something familiar as his dead eyes stared out at the world. He would be helpless in a world of darkness for life as people would see him and pity him.

"What are you doing?" She screamed at Darcy. Her rage breaking open after so long pent up. So much anger and frustration boiling over.

Darcy jumped and pulled her scarf down from her perfect, working eyes.

"I wanted to see what Daniel would see." She said in a small voice.  
"Daniel doesn't _see_!" Ariadne shouted at the little girl. "Were you making fun of him?" She said in an angry voice that she never used on her children.

"No." Darcy said weakly. Her little body trembling slightly.

"Why were doing this? Why were you pretending to be blind? Is this a game? Do you think it's fun?" Ariadne shouted at her daughter.

"No." Darcy said sadly. The child feeling ashamed of herself.

"What's all this yelling?" Arthur said coming into Darcy's room.

Ariadne turned and looked at her husband.  
"Darcy was playing in here with a scarf over her eyes. She was pretending to be blind! She thinks what happened to Daniel is a game she can play!" Ariadne said. Her blood boiling at the thought. Her instincts to protect her helpless son kicking in. An urge to fight taking hold.

She had to defend Daniel. Even if she spent the rest of her life doing it, she had to protect her son.  
"I'm sorry." Darcy said as she started to cry.

"You know what you did was wrong!" Ariadne shouted at her.  
"Ariadne!" Arthur said pulling his wife away from Darcy. The little girl was in tears now as the Architect crossed her arms over her chest.

"It's alright, Darcy." Arthur said hugging the little girl to him.

"You'll touch her, but not your own child?" Ariadne cried. She couldn't help the tears coming down now. An angry torrent that wouldn't break.

"Ariadne!" Arthur almost shouted as his wife left him and Darcy.


	5. Chapter 5

5.

~ "Darcy says she's sorry." Arthur said later that evening. His wife was in the nursery. Daniel had just been fed and his mother was humming to him as the baby rested on her chest. No doubt liking the sound of her voice.

"She needs to be. This isn't a joke." she told Arthur. Not bothering to hide the bitterness from her voice.

"She was trying to empathize with him. Trying to understand what he's going through." Arthur said stepping into the nursery.

Ariadne said nothing as she looked coldly at her husband.

"She's only 8. How can she understand what happened? How can any of us?" He asked her.  
"We just have to make the best of this, Arthur." She told him. Her voice almost business like. "Or at least Daniel and I do."

"What does that mean?" Arthur asked. Blinking like he had been slapped.  
"I know you don't feel comfortable around him. Not since you found out he's blind." She whispered.  
"Ariadne." Arthur said taking a deep breath. "I just don't know what to do. I don't know how to comfort you. How to make this better. All I've ever done is try to make bad things better. I don't know how to do that now." He told her.

She looked up at the Point Man. His handsome face worried as those dark circles were deeper these days.

"I don't know what to do either." She whispered. "But he can't be fixed. He can't be perfect like Dominic was."

"I don't want to _fix_ him." Arthur sighed. "I want to help him. I don't care if my son isn't perfect. I just want to do anything I can to make his life better."

"And if he _never_ sees?" Ariadne asked.  
"Then he never sees. I've already done the research on schools for the blind. Some in New York and some in Paris. They can do amazing things." Arthur told her. "He can live a normal life. He can be happy."

Ariadne felt a wave of pity for her son come over her again. Her baby in one of those schools. Having to learn how how to operate in a seeing world. It would be a constant challenge to do the most basic of things.

"I'm sorry, Ariadne. I just don't know how to help him." Arthur said pulling her closer to him.

She cried then at the feel of him holding her again.  
"I keep thinking there must have been something I did wrong." She cried. "During the pregnancy. Maybe I did something wrong."

He shushed her. His hand rubbing over her back as he looked at Daniel. The baby sleeping peacefully in her arms. Not at all bothered by his parents worries as he dreamed of milk and his mother's voice.

Sensing what should happen next, Ariadne gave the baby to his father.

The light, little bundle floating into his arms.  
"He's so small." Arthur laughed as he looked over Daniels small features. His delicate nose and long fingers.

She smiled and nodded.

Arthur appraised his youngest for a long time.  
"He looks like you." He whispered. "He has your lips and face."

"That's what everyone's been saying." Ariadne smiled softly.

"Yes. This handsome boy, looks like his mother."

He turned to Ariadne.

"Lucky him." he said with a smile and Ariadne couldn't help but laugh.

~ Arthur had taken some time off from the Company to be with the new baby. He would have loved to have stayed home indefinitely. Darcy was busy with dance classes. Dominic was walking everywhere and Daniel was content to be adored by everyone.

Instead, he had to leave his family and spend 12 hours a day in meetings that would try to save a dieing company.

"The staff reductions helped, but not enough." Lowe was saying. "The investors are just not confident anymore. The economy is too shaky for anyone to invest in something that might not be here next year."

Arthur sighed and ignored the head ache that was coming on. This world of business was not his chosen profession. He had spent his life trying to get away from such a world. Now, it was like his father was still finding ways to hurt him from beyond the grave.

~ "Maybe we should sell." Ariadne offered one night. Her husband had gotten home late again and was too tired and stressed to spend time with her and the kids. Something he always did when they lived in Paris.  
"It will turn around. I know it." Arthur said.

"And then what?" She asked. "You'll spend the rest of our lives managing this company? You don't want that. You never wanted that."

"I know. It's not permanent." Arthur said as he laid down on their bed. Daniel resting like a kitten on his chest. The baby perfectly happy with whoever held him.

"Arthur, you haven't been sleeping well and you've more lost weight." His wife said as she looked over her husband.

"I know. I'll take a few days off and we can spend some time together." He promised.

"You've started smoking again." She said sadly.

Arthur didn't move. His hands over his sleeping son.

"I can smell it on you and you left an empty pack in your jacket." She added.

"I'll stop." He told her.  
"You only smoke when your upset." She told him. "How much are you smoking now?"

"I'll stop."

"Arthur." She said feeling helpless. "Lets just sell it and go back home."

"It's not that easy." Arthur told her.

"Why not?"

He sighed and sat up slowly. Daniel making a noise as his father tried to hold him and not disturb his sleep.

"The interest on the loans my father took out, they are all we can afford to pay right now. The company is broke and in the red. If were going to even come close to breaking even next year, we have to get out of debt." He told her.

Ariadne said nothing as she watched her husband pace the floor with Daniel. The baby quickly falling back to sleep in his father's arms.

"The fastest way I can pay back the worst of the loans will be to liquidate some assets." He told her.  
"What does that mean?" She asked.

"I means, we can pay off these loans and maybe restore our investors, but we would have to sell the apartment here in the city and other holdings." Arthur told her.

Ariadne didn't say anything and Arthur wouldn't meet her eyes.

"What other things would we have to sell to pay off the loan?" She asked.  
"Stock and bonds. Some of them are worth a lot. We always kept them for an emergency. The interest they made has always been our main income." He told her. "But if we pay off the loans and the company still fails, we won't have anything to fall back on. We might even lose our home in Paris. The dues there are very expensive."

"Oh Arthur." She she gasped as her eyes filled with tears. She loved the home in Paris. Loved everything about it. It was their home and she wanted to go back there.

She would leave today if it meant she could go back to their beautiful apartment. The place he had asked her to marry him in. Where Dominic took his first steps. Were Darcy had split paint on the carpet, covered it with a chair, and thought her parents never knew.

"We could lose everything?" She cried softly as he put Daniel to bed.

Arthur had always given his family a very comfortable life. One where she never had to worry about bills or the cost of the things they needed. It had been something she appreciated, and often took for granted.

It wasn't just their home. Daniel would need his special school and surgeries. All of that would no doubt cost a small fortune. Not to mention Darcy and Dominic going to college.

"I'm sorry." He whispered as he went to be with her in their bed. "This whole year has been so hard. If I had known it was going to be like this, I would have sold the company and let it be broken up. I've tried so hard to find a better solution, but there isn't one."

"We can't lose our home in Paris." She cried as he wiped away the tears from her eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

6.

~ Arthur's childhood home, sold quickly. The Point Man was glad to be rid of it. Still feeling like the ghosts of his past lingered there. The memory of his cold and distant father, still haunting the halls. His beautiful mother, dieing in those rooms. It was a welcomed thing to shed those dark memories.

The penthouse looked strange and too big without the furniture in it. The celebrity who bought it planed to move in right away.

"You'll like the new place better." Ariadne promised Darcy. "It's close to school and the park."

~ The new place was better. Although it was smaller, it was much more modern and family friendly. Instead of large, creepy looking rooms that the family would seclude themselves in, the new home had one large room that acted as kitchen, dinning room and family room. They were forced to be together and it was proving better for them.

~ "Why is Darcy still in her ballet costume?" Arthur asked as Ariadne set the table. Mrs. Mills had the day off and, although Ariadne worried, her husband said they could still afford the nanny.

"She wanted to wear it." His wife told him as the little girl was dressed like a pink fairy. Dominic looking at his older sister with interest as Daniel slept nearby. Not troubled about anything.

"Mcline called." Ariadne said as they sat down to eat. The children pleased to have the Architect's cooking again.

"Do I need to ask?" The Point Man said as he watched his oldest son feed himself lasagna. His face smeared with tomato sauce as he liked the sauce and not much else.

The only time Mcline would call was when it was new developments about Stacy. Things were not as easy as the lawyer hoped that they would be. The woman had hired a lawyer of her own and, despite evidence that worked against her claim of rape, Stacy was not going away quietly.

"Mcline wants you to make a statement." Ariadne said.

"Getting so tired of that mess." Arthur grumbled darkly.

"Maybe we should just offer her a settlement." Ariadne said.

"If we give her money to drop the suit, that's like saying I'm guilty. I'm not guilty and I won't say that I am." Arthur said angrily.

Darcy looked worriedly at her parents. Her gray eyes frightened as they were always talking about money, and work and Daniel. Things she had no control over.

"Well, let's not talk about this now." Ariadne whispered.

~ "It would be cheaper to just settle, Arthur." Mcline said the next day. "This woman can't prove you raped her, but then again, you can't prove you didn't."

"What about the cell phone records? Security cameras?" Arthur asked. He had just left a meeting with Lowe and things were looking only slightly better now that the loans were paid off and the company was no longer in the red.

"The cell phone records and security cameras are fine but she wasn't precisely clear on the time frame. She claims she was drunk and wasn't aware of when the alleged assault happened." Mcline said.

"How convenient." Arthur grumbled.  
"Her lawyer says if we settle, there will be no admission of guilt on your part. If you don't, this will drag out in the papers." Mcline said.  
"If I settle, that is just like saying I'm guilty. That I'm paying this woman off. It opens the door to anyone who want's to accuse me of anything to get a payday." Arthur said.

"Son, we may need to just bite the bullet on this one." Mcline said as gently as possible. "If this gets dragged out in the papers, what do you think that will do to potential investments to the company? What will it say when the CEO has to answer rape allegations?"

Arthur sat across from the family lawyer. Mcline's advice was sound. The older man had always given him the best advice.

The Point Man imagined writing a check to this woman. Admitting defeat. Giving her money so she would just go away. Letting her win.  
"No." Arthur said snapping back into the real world. "No, I'm not giving her a dime. She's out of work and can't afford that lawyer for too much longer. She has no evidence of any crime and she's a disgruntled ex-employee. The DA isn't willing to charge me, why should I pay her anything? I'll take her to court if I have to, but I won't reward her for lying."

"Then you need to prepare yourself for some investigator to go through your life. Questions will be asked that you might not have the answers to." Mcline said harshly.

"What questions? What have I ever done that was illegal?" Arthur growled.  
Mcline gave him a hard look.

"Tell me how you met your wife, Arthur. Not the story you tell strangers. The _real_ story." The old lawyer said.

Arthur sat back in silence. He had forgotten about his chosen profession. Dream extraction and inception were not technically legal. It was work that the Team had kept privet and if people found out, their could be lawsuits.

"You don't want your work with Mr. Cobb brought out. There is not only your life, but his and Mr. Eames as well. If I can find out about it, anyone can." Mcline said.

Arthur sat numbly in his chair. An intense feeling like he had been beaten washed over him.

"Alright. We'll settle." The Point Man whispered.

~ "I'm glad your home." Ariadne said kissing his cheek.  
"Sorry I was out so late." He whispered as he kissed his wife hello.

"It's alright." She told him. "I took the kids to have their pictures taken." She told him.

"That's good." Arthur said. Not interested about anything anymore.  
"Can you check on the boys?" She asked innocently.

Her voice oddly sweet.

"What are you up to?" He asked.  
"I just want you to check on the boys." She said not giving anything away.

In their shared nursery, Dominic was sitting on the floor playing with blocks and Daniel was in his crib chewing on a teething ring.

Arthur almost laughed out loud at seeing them.

Both of his sons were dressed in custom, tailor made suits. They were perfectly matched and made to look like a scaled down version of the kind of suits their father wore.

"When you first asked me to marry you." Ariadne whispered as he picked Daniel up and looked over the well dressed baby. "I wasn't sure about having children. Then Eames made some comment about how, if we had a boy, he would be too much like you."

Arthur couldn't take his eyes off of Dominic. His oldest son looking grumpy in the uncomfortable suit his mother had forced him to wear. The toddler wearing the Point Man's sour expression perfectly.

"I got this image in my head of our little boy wearing a suit like you do. Couldn't get that picture out of my mind." His wife said. "I knew then, that I wanted that little boy. That I wanted children with you."

Arthur chuckled as he handed Daniel to his mother. The mellow baby chirping like a bird at hearing his parents talk in low, happy voices.

The Point Man scooped up Dominic and smoothed out his vest and jacket.

"Thank you." He whispered to his wife. Feeling the tightens in his chest loosen. The anger he had felt since signing a check to that woman, fled from his mind.

She smiled.  
"We settled with that woman. Stacy. Mcline said it would be best. It's over now." Arthur admitted sadly as he buried his nose in Dominic's hair. Smelling the baby shampoo his mother used.

"I'm glad." Ariadne whispered. Coming up beside her husband.  
"Now, lets not think about her anymore." She told him.


	7. Chapter 7

7.

~ "It's not where we were wanting to be by now." Lowe said once the two men were seated in Arthur's office.

"What does that mean? Our numbers are up." Arthur groaned. He hated everyday that he had to come into this office and discuss numbers and figures. Every moment he had to spend in this city that wasn't with his family.

"Yes, but it's slow to recover. Things are a long way from where they were a decade ago." Lowe said. "We are just barely eking out a profit."

"I've been in this city a year now." Arthur said. "I promised my wife we would go back home to Paris as soon as this company was profitable again."

"It's profitable, but just barely." Lowe said. "The economy is still struggling and I don't see it making a drastic turn around anytime soon."

Arthur sighed. He had lost more weight and hadn't been sleeping well. Worries of the Company, Stacy with her allegations, and most importantly his family had taken their toll.

"I have invested everything I have in this company." Arthur said to his manager. "If this fails, my wife and I won't even have a home to go back to."

"I know." Lowe said respectfully.

~ Arthur sat at in his office. It had been his father's office for years and afforded him an impressive view of the city. To an outsider, it was an office that spoke of accomplishments and status. To the Point Man, it was a prison.

"Very nice corner office." A commanding voice said in careful English.

Arthur jumped and stood up. He recognized that voice.

"Saito?" He said as he turned and saw the well dressed Japanese man. Mr. Saito was standing confidently in the center of Arthur's office. A little smile on his face.

"I must admit, when I heard you were attempting to turn this company around, I had my doubts. You didn't strike me as a good business man." Saito said.

"I'm not." Arthur said waving at a chair for the former Tourist to sit in.

Saito took a seat opposite the Point Man and smiled at the handsome portrait of Arthur's three children on the desk. His son's dressed in their matching suits and his daughter in a pink ballet style dress.

"Very nice." Saito said to the picture. "A family anyone would envy."

"I guess you didn't hear about my youngest." Arthur said. His thoughts going to Daniel and all the challenges his life would have.

"Mr. Cobb told me." Saito said. "My sister lost her sight when she was five. You would ever know she was blind to see her now. She lives by herself and functions just like a sighted person. She works in medical transcription."

Arthur looked at Saito with a new wonder. The business man shrugged.  
"It wasn't easy for her, I am certain. She adapted." He said.

"That's good to hear." Arthur said. A part of him cheered by the fact that Daniel's life wouldn't be totally helpless.

"I came here because I wanted to see your company." Saito said getting down to business. "I was surprised to see it has done so well. It is out of the red, making a profit again. It is impressive."

"It's been a lot of work." Arthur agreed.

"You don't care for this kind of work." Saito said. It wasn't a question.

"No, I hate it." Arthur said. "I'm never home with my family anymore."

"Which is why I never had one. You can not succeed in business if you put family first." Saito told him.

"I never wanted this company and if I could, I would sell it."

"If you sold it, it would be deconstructed and a lot of people would be out of a job." Saito said with an amused smile.

"I know. It's a conundrum." Arthur agreed.  
"What if it wasn't?" Saito asked.

~ Ariadne breathed a sigh of relief as the last box was unpacked. It was so good to be home. The streets of Paris were beckoning her as Darcy was blowing bubbles for Dominic. The toddler trying to catch them as they floated by. His baby hands slapping together. Disappointed that the strange, translucent orbs vanished when he opened his hands.

Daniel was on his play mat. Toys that rewarded him with sounds and music in his hands. The tiny notes of Mozart chiming away as he learned how to activate it. His world becoming a little more interesting as he was always finding things that made noise.  
Saito hadn't bought Arthur's company. Instead, they had agreed on a merger that helped to restore investor confidence and meant Arthur could take a much less active role in managing the company.

"Stop watching that!" Ariadne called to her husband. The Point Man looking at the market report on the living room TV. He proudly saw the shares of his company climb.  
"I still can't believe it's doing so well so fast!" Arthur exclaimed as he watched to stock ticker.

His wife came into the room and shut off the TV.

"You have to meet Cobb about a job. And later were going to look at schools for Daniel." Ariadne told him. "We said no more worrying about the company."

"I know." Arthur said happily. He looked like he had gotten more sleep and had gained some of the weight back. His health improving as the family was finally back home in Paris.

"I just can't believe how easy it is now. How, after all that, Saito comes in and it's fixed." Arthur said snapping his fingers.

"So were not in any danger of losing this house?" She asked worriedly.

"None." Arthur said. "In fact, we can buy another one if you want. We can even buy back the penthouse in Manhattan if you like."

"No. I don't want to live in New York again. One year was enough." His wife said.

"The really good news is, I won't have to manage anything anymore. I can send a proxy and that's it." Arthur said.

He felt oddly free and happy as Daniel made his stuffed elephant play music again.  
"I think Sadie got him that to drive us crazy." Arthur said. His youngest son kicking his legs as he was happy to have the music back.  
"The pediatrician says we need to encourage Daniel's auditory senses." Ariadne told him.

"Can't we give him another toy?" He asked as Daniel made the elephant play for him again. The infant laughing happily as the tune had soon started to wear on his parents nerves.  
"No. He likes that one." Ariadne told him.

"Bubbles!" Dominic shouted to Darcy as his older sister blew more bubbles for the toddler.

She was dressed in her ballet costume. Wanting to take dance lessons here in Paris. Her teachers in New York telling her parents she was a gifted dancer.

"Arthur." Ariadne whispered nudging the Point Man.

He turned and saw Daniel. The baby, forgetting his elephant, rolling over and starting to crawl.

His mother took a deep breath as she made to hover over him. Fearful that her son would hurt himself when he crawled in his world of darkness.

"The doctor says we have to let him explore his environment." Arthur whispered holding her back.

"I don't want him to bump into things." Ariadne said in a scared voice.

She wanted so much to stay by the baby and guide him away for the furniture she just knew he would hurt himself on because he couldn't see.

"He's crawling now." Arthur said with a low chuckle. "He's _supposed_ to bump into things anyway."

Their fears were unfounded as they watched Daniel crawl to the sounds of his brother and sister playing. Dominic losing interest in the bubbles and was now fascinated on his favorite toy; his little brother.

The toddler calling Daniel's name and smoothing out his hair as the baby wanted to be included in his sibling's game.

"See?" Arthur said holding his wife back. Letting their youngest do things on his own. "He's going to be fine."

The Point Man circled his arms around the Architect, as the mother in her still worried over her baby.

"Were going to be fine." Arthur whispered in her ear.

**~ END ~**


End file.
